Bitcoin prices breach the 5000 dollar mark

Bitcoin hit a new record high Thursday with rising investor interest causing a rally for the price of the cryptocurrency.

The bitcoin price hit an all-time high of $5,144.97 in early trade on Thursday, according to data from industry website Coindesk. This surpassed the previous high of $5,013.91 hit on September 2.

Investors appear to have shrugged off much of the negative news from regulators around bitcoin.

Bitcoin values soaring in 2017

Bitcoin’s prices in 2017 have been nothing short of spectacular. The crypto currency often referred to as digital gold blew past the prices of the precious yellow metal in mid 2017. Bitcoin prices flirted with the $1000 mark in January this year but after that rapid acceptance of the virtual currency saw a boom in its prices.

Reports have emerged in the last few days that trading in the world’s second-largest economy could resume. A report by Cryptocoinnews.com, citing Chinese state-owned news company Xinhua, said that bitcoin trading will likely resume with more regulation. This could include new licensing and anti-money laundering regulations to be implemented by exchanges.